Recorded by Bill Leader in his own home, Camden Town, London, 1964 or 1965;
Notes by Hamish Henderson

Musicians

Belle Stewart (1906-1997): vocals [1-5];
Alex Stewart (Belle’s husband): goose [11], pipes [12];
Cathie Stewart (1927-2005; Alex and Belle’s daughter): vocals [6-7, 11];
Sheila Stewart (1935-2014; Alex and Belle’s daughter): vocals [8-10]

Tracks

Side 1

1. [Belle] Huntingtower (Roud 345; Laws O23; G/D 5:1052)
2. [Belle] Caroline of Edinburgh Town (Roud 398; Laws P27; G/D 6:1151; Henry H148)
3. [Belle] In London’s Fair City (Roud 218; Laws P30; G/D 2:210)
4. [Belle] Queen Amang the Heather (Roud 375; G/D 5:962; Henry H177)
5. [Belle] The Dowie Dens o’ Yarrow (Roud 13; Child 214; G/D 2:215)

Side 2

6. [Cathie] The Lakes o’ Shillin (Roud 189; Laws Q33; G/D 2:228; Henry H176)
7. [Cathie] Ower Yon Hill There Lives a Lassie (Roud 5121)
8. [Sheila] The Convict’s Song (Roud 5122)
9. [Sheila] Young Jamie Foyers (Roud 1941; G/D 1:106) (2.44)
10. [Sheila] The Corncrake Amang the Whinny Knowes (Roud 2736; G/D 5:945; Henry H18b)
11. [Cathie acc. Alex] Busk, Busk, Bonnie Lassie (Roud 832; G/D 5:1053)
12. [Alex] Pipe Tunes: Fagail Liosmor / 74^th’s Farewell to Edinburgh marches / The Shepherd’s Crook strathspey / Miss Proud reel

Review

This review is from Gramophone, March 1966:

Another good record, strictly traditional, is by The Stewarts of Blair (Topic 12T138). Belle, Cathie and Sheila, the female members of this famous Scottish singing family, perform songs like Huntingtower, The Dowie Dens of Yarrow and Young Jamie Foyers in a way that shows, if any doubt it, that you can sing in a traditional manner and yet make a delightful sound. Alex Stewart plays a March, Strathspey and Reel on the Highland war pipes. This is one of Topic’s best.

Recorded by Bill Leader in Scotland in 1967;
Notes by Carl MacDougall;
Photographs by Brian Shuel

Musicians

Jeannie Robertson: vocals [2];
Lizzie Higgins (Jeannie’s daughter): vocals [1];
Donald Higgins (Jeannie’s husband): whistle [3];
Isaac Higgins (Jeannie’s brother-in-law): mouth organ [3];

Davie Stewart: vocals [5];
Jane Stewart (Davie’s daughter): vocals [4];
Christina Stewart (Davie’s cousin): vocals [6];

Maggie McPhee: vocals [7]

Belle Stewart: vocals [9];
Alex Stewart (Belle’s husband): pipes [8], goose [9, 10];
Cathie Stewart (Alex and Belle’s daughter): vocals [10];
Sheila Stewart (Alex and Belle’s daughter): vocals [11];

Tracks

Side 1

1. Lizzie Higgins: Johnnie My Man (Roud 845; G/D 3:587; Henry H807)
2. Jeannie Robertson: Willie’s Fatal Visit (Roud 244; Child 255)
3. Donald and Isaac Higgins: The Battle is O’er / Scotland the Brave / The 51st Division in Egypt pipe tunes
4. Jane Stewart: Bogie’s Bonnie Belle (Roud 2155; G/D 7:1396)
5. Davie Stewart: McGinty’s Meal and Ale (Roud 2518; G/D 3:630)

Side 2

6. Christina Stewart: My Bonnie Tammy (Roud 326)
7. Maggie McPhee: MacPherson’s Lament (Roud 2160; G/D 3:697)
8. Alex Stewart: The Drunken Piper march / Brig O’ Perth strathspey / Reel of Tulloch reel
9. Belle Stewart: Loch Dhui (Roud 5121)
10. Cathie Stewart: The Dawning of the Day (Roud 370; Laws P16; G/D 7:1312)
11. Sheila Stewart: Donald’s Return to Glencoe (Roud 515; Laws N39; G/D 5:1044; Henry H655)

All tracks trad. except
Track 5 George Bruce Thomson

Review

This review is from: D.K. Wilgus, Scots and Irish Tradition, The Journal of American Folklore, Vol. 85, No. 337 (Jul.-Sep. 1972), pp. 292-296:

Performances from the rich tradition of the Stewart clan of “travellers” continue to be available. The Travelling Stewarts (Topic I2TI79) records no less than twelve of the extended family. Jeannie Robertson’s Willie’s Fatal Visit (Child 255) raises again the problem of the role of Peter Buchan in Aberdeenshire tradition; at any rate this version is more than a copy of the Buchan text. Maggie McPhee contributes a fine traditional version of MacPherson’s Farewell. (Since my study of 1965, more information concerning the “hanged fiddler” tradition has come to light, including greater possibility of previous Irish connections and its occurrence in Hungary possibly as early as the thirteenth century.) Cathie Stewart’s The Dawning of the Day is not Laws P16, at least if one makes a tight differentiation. There are at least seven narrative textual types in English of The Dawning of the Day, of which Laws P16 is Type V (in which the girl is seduced), while Cathie Stewart sings Type II, one of three closely related forms in which the wooer is rejected. Type I has only a courtship scene, and Types VI and VII culminate in successful courtship and marriage. But all the types are genetically related. Bogie’s Bonnie Belle is justly a tinker favorage, while Donald’s Return to Glencoe (Laws N39) is a well-known returned-disguised-lover form. There are, of course, a number of fine pipe tunes by Alex Stewart and Donald and Isaac Higgins.

Aisnia Cswica’s review is from Gramophone, December 1968:

Back of Benachie (Topic 12T180) is a generous sample of the living tradition, with Sheila Stewart’s Mill o’ Tiffy’s Annie, Belle Stewart’s Bonnie House o’ Airlie, and Maggie MacPhee’s Back o’ Benachie. Sheila Stewart and her mother, like Lizzie Higgins and her mother Jeannie Robertson, span two generations, and show what has been lost further south in strength and renewal of singing. The same point is amply illustrated on The Travelling Stewarts, a companion record (Topic 12T179), with their singing, their husband’s piping and the first Topic recording of Christina Stewart, Davie Stewart, and his daughter Jane. The other meaning of a living tradition—the spontaneous renewal of the songs as well as the singers—is brought out in Festival at Blairgowrie (Topic 12T181), where Belle Stewart sings both the Berryfields o’ Blair, which she wrote forty years ago, and her 1966 parody of it; while the indefatigable Mary Brooksbank, having composed one of the shortest and clearest of radical statements in her Jute Mill Song (“Oh dear me, the world’s ill divided / Them that work the hardest are the least provided”), returns at the age of 70 to sing it movingly. This record is also notable for the singing of John “Hoddan” Macdonald of Lewis.

Recorded by Fred Kent in Blairgowrie, Perthshire in May 1976;
Produced by Tony Engle;
Sleeve notes by Geordie McIntyre;
Front sleeve photograph by D. Wilson Laing;
Back sleeve photograph by Mike Yates;
Sleeve design by Tony Engle

Musicians

Belle Stewart: vocals

Tracks

Side 1

1. Queen Amang the Heather (Roud 375; G/D 5:962; Henry H177) (3.45)
2. Here’s a Health to All True Lovers (Roud 1235) (3.34)
3. Betsy Bell (Roud 5211) (3.33)
4. The Berryfields of Blair (Roud 2154) (2.30)
5. The Soft Country Chiel (The Toon o’ Dalry) (Roud 5205) (2.50)
6. Whistlin’ at the Ploo’ (Roud 5210) (2.20)
7. The Bonnie Wee Lassie frae Gourock (Roud 5212) (3.15)

Side 2

8. The Overgate (Roud 866) (3.15)
9. Blooming Caroline o’ Edinburgh Toon (Roud 398; Laws P27; G/D 6:1151; Henry H148) (3.00)
10. Busk, Busk, Bonnie Lassie (Bonny Glenshee) (Roud 832; G/D 5:1053) (2.00)
11. Late Last Night (Roud 567; Laws P31; G/D 6:1199; Henry H60ab) (3.23)
12. The Twa Brothers (Roud 38; Child 49) (4.22)
13. Leezie Lindsay (Roud 94; Child 226; G/D 4:854) (2.17)

All tracks trad. except
Tracks 4, 6 Belle Stewart

Produced by Bob McDowall at Alyth High School, courtesy of Mr MacGregor (Headmaster);
Sleeve notes by Maurice Fleming;
Portrait by John Gahagan D.A.;
Graphics Donnie George

Musicians

Belle Stewart (1906-1997): vocals [1, 3, 6-7, 9, 12-13, 16-17];
Sheila Stewart (1935-2014): vocals [1, 4, 6, 8-9, 11, 13-14, 16];
Cathie Stewart (1927-2005): vocals [2, 5-6, 9-10, 13, 15-16]

Tracks

Side 1

1. [Belle, Sheila, Cathie] Come A’ You Jolly Ploo’men (Roud 6855) (2.23)
2. [Cathie] The Lakes of Shillin (Roud 189; Laws Q33; G/D 2:228; Henry H176) (2.50)
3. [Belle] The Bonnie Hoose o’ Airlie (Roud 794; Child 199; G/D 2:233) (3.18)
4. [Sheila] The Moving-On Song (Roud 6852) (2.13)
5. [Cathie] A Nobleman Lived in a Mansion (Roud 2533) (1.55)
6. [Belle, Sheila, Cathie] Jock Stewart (Roud 975) (3.32)
7. [Belle] Inverness-Shire (Roud 6856) (2.15)
8. [Sheila] The Banks of the Lee (Roud 6857) (3.24)

Side 1

9. [Belle, Sheila, Cathie] Betsy Bell (Roud 5211) (3.23)
10. [Cathie] The Dawning of the Day (Roud 370; Laws P16; G/D 7:1312) (2.05)
11. [Sheila] My Dog and Gun (Roud 2124; Henry H32) (3.21)
12. [Belle] The Berryfields of Blair (Roud 2154) (2.24)
13. [Belle, Sheila, Cathie] I’m No’ Coming Oot the Noo (Roud 5298) (2.26)
14. [Sheila] Mickey’s Warning (Roud 6333) (1.29)
15. [Cathie] Hatton Woods (Roud 5531) (3.03)
16. [Belle, Sheila, Cathie] The Parting Song (Roud 1801; G/D 8:1516) (2.26)
17. [Belle] Canntaireachd: The Renfrewshire Militia march / The Ten Penny Bit reel (1.17)

All tracks trad. arr. the Stewarts except
Track 4 Ewan MacColl;
Track 12 Belle Stewart

Recorded by Doc Rowe in Blairgowrie, Perthshire on 15 October 1998;
Produced by Tony Engle and Doc Rowe;
Mastered by Tony Dixon at Reflex Audio;
Sleeve notes by Doc Rowe;
Sleeve design by The Art Surgery

Musicians

Sheila Stewart: vocals

Tracks

1. Queen Amang the Heather (Roud 375; G/D 5:962; Henry H177) (4.38)
2. Twa Brothers (Roud 38; Child 49) (4.25)
3. False, False (Roud 8276) (1.43)
4. Hatton Woods (Roud 5531) (3.05)
5. Glencoe (Roud 515; Laws N39; G/D 5:1044; Henry H655) (4.47)
6. Bogie’s Bonnie Belle (Roud 2155; G/D 7:1396) (2.49)
7. Mill o’ Tifty’s Annie (Roud 98; Child 233; G/D 5:1018) (4.49)
8. Wi’ My Dog and Gun (Roud 2124; Henry H32) (3.24)
9. Blackwaterside (Roud 6319) (4.16)
10. Mantle So Green (Roud 714; Laws N38; G/D 5:1033; Henry H76) (4.02)
11. Blue Blazin’ Blind Drunk (Roud 6333) (1.25)
12. Willie Leonard (Roud 189; Laws Q33; G/D 2:228; Henry H176) (3.03)
13. Echo Mocks the Corncrake (Roud 2736; G/D 5:945; Henry H18b) (1.59)
14. The Moving-On Song (Roud 6852) (1.59)
15. The Oxford Tragedy (Roud 218; Laws P30; G/D 2:210) (3.56)
16. Inverness-Shire (Roud 6856) (2.22)
17. The Convict’s Song (Roud 5122) (2.21)
18. A Health to All True Lovers (Roud 1235) (3.38)
19. The Nobleman’s Wedding (Roud 567; Laws P31; G/D 6:1199; Henry H60ab) (3.37)
20. The Parting Glass (Roud 1801; G/D 8:1516) (3.00)

Recording and notes by Doc Rowe in Blairgowrie, 1999;
Digitally remastered at Oisin Studios January 2000;
Cover photo by Vivienne Bloomfield

Musicians

Sheila Stewart: vocals

Tracks

1. The Parrot story (8.37)
2. Rosie (1.47)
3. The Wooden Ball story (8.16)
4. The Three Wishes story (4.12)
5. Betsy Bell (Roud 5211) (3.37)
6. Cod Liver Oil (2.00)
7. The Trampman story (9.11)
8. Jock Stewart (Roud 975) (3.14)
9. Native American origin story (4.16)
10. Never Wed an Auld Man (Roud 210) (2.52)
11. Appley and Orangey story (12.49)